During the fighting of a fire, a firefighter works in a very hostile environment. Many firefighters lose their lives while fighting fires. Most of the deaths of firefighters while fighting fires are the result of stress, heart attacks, strokes, and the like. Of course, a firefighter must be protected from the environment within which the firefighter works. However, in an attempt to provide adequate protection, the garments of firefighters have been too heavy and too bulky.
Firefighter's coats and trousers customarily have three layers of material: an outer shell or layer, which is flame resistant and abrasion resistant, and an intermediate layer which is a moisture barrier, and an inner layer, which is a thermal barrier. These layers may be three separate distinct layers or may be one or two members.
Customarily, the inner layer, or thermal barrier, in a firefighter's garment is significantly thick and bulky. Optimal thermal insulation in a garment is dead air space within the garment. Dead air space can be provided in a garment at relatively low costs. Dead air space creates minimal weight in a garment. However, even though dead air as a thermal insulator in a garment has been recognized in the clothing industry, this fact has not received significant recognition in the design and construction of firefighters' protective clothing.
This absence of use of dead air insulation in firefighters' clothing has resulted from the fact that in a garment which is designed for dead air as thermal insulation, that dead air insulation must be guaranteed and maintained during all firefighting activity of a firefighter who wears the garment. Localized pressure upon a firefighter's garment may occur as a firefighter carries firefighting apparatus, or an object or a person. Localized pressure may also occur in a firefighter's garment as the firefighter moves and works. During firefighting activity a firefighter frequently finds it necessary to carry relatively heavy and/or bulky items, such as a breathing apparatus tank, water hose, and the like. If conventional dead air space means in clothing should be provided in a firefighter's garment, such heavy items carried by the firefighter would apply pressure upon portions of the firefighter's clothing and would reduce or destroy the dead air space in the firefighter's garment. Thus, conventional dead air space structure for thermal insulation cannot be employed in a firefighter's garment, because such conventional structure cannot assure or maintain dead air space in a firefighter's garment.
It is an object of this invention to provide firefighters' garments which have the same quality of protection or better protection against the environment than conventional firefighters' garments but which have significantly less weight, permitting greater ease of movement of the firefighters and less stress upon the firefighters than conventional garments of firefighters.
It is another object of this invention to provide firefighters' garments in which dead air space is employed as thermal insulation and in which the dead air space is maintained even when significant external pressure or weight is applied to the garments.
Another object of this invention is to provide firefighters' garments which contain ventilation means.
Another object of this invention is to provide a means and a method which can be used in constructing firefighters' coats, vests, and trousers, and other garments or wearing apparel in which air space is employed as insulation.
Another object of this invention is to provide such firefighters' garments which can be constructed at lower costs than firefighters' conventional garments.
Other objects and advantages of the firefighters' garments of this invention reside in the construction of parts, the combination thereof, the method of production and the mode of use, as will become more apparent from the following description.